


In The Morning, Back Again

by Slurrrp69



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But there's nothing explicit, Dialogue Heavy, Fluff, M/M, Prostitute AU, Sex Work, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, pro immigration, pro sex work
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:29:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29661093
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slurrrp69/pseuds/Slurrrp69
Summary: Sokka's a prostitute that Zuko goes to for comfort.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 41





	In The Morning, Back Again

"Sokka, your regular is here,"

"Thank you Nanami-san, please send him in,"

Sokka heads to his room, sitting down in the middle of the carpeted room, behind the low serving table. Spreading out his loose robe enticingly over the floor, making sure his hip is jutted out and his collarbone peaks out a little through the hanging of his robe.

The robe is a beautiful mixture of gold, red, and dark blue, featuring a dragon and cherry trees. He could never have afforded these robes before, but his now favorite customer has been paying him a little extra since the first night. In the beginning this had confused Sokka a lot. There were several nights after their meetings, that Sokka had lain awake and wondered why the man was giving him so much when he was also demanding so little. Now he knows that that is just how he is.

The door opens with a slow slide, revealing the man that Sokka had been infatuated with for the last couple months, wearing simpler common people robes, with muted browns and reds, that still fit his figure phenomenally, accentuating all of his lean muscle. His hair pulled into a high ponytail, crownless as usual. His left eye and subsequent scar hidden by his bangs. The right golden eye looking down at Sokka with amusement and fondness, a smirk gracing his lips.

"Welcome back, master," Sokka responds with a seductive smile, just as he was taught.

"Thank you, Sokka," Fire Lord Zuko responds.

* * *

A year earlier, Sokka had been sitting in the common room with some of his brothers and sister, the rest of the house was either working in their rooms, or out. Kyo was just bragging about one of his latest clients ( _he called me his sweet summer blossom and spent hours worshipping my body,)_ he had just gotten to the good part, ( _with biceps as big as my head and a thing as big as-_ ) “Alright ladies! We’ve got a group of seven coming in! Aoi, Haru, Sokka, Kiri, Mikayo, Nollo, Kyomure go get ready! Now!”

A chorus of “yes ma’am”s echo in the room as the mentioned individuals leave to their rooms. Sokka entered his room, rolling out his bed and fluffing up the pillows. He pulls out a small mirror and a pouch. He does his makeup on the floor and brushes out his hair, as one of his sisters cleans off the low table and sets it up. Now, with lips and cheeks rosy, and eyes outlined with charcoal, he throws on a plain pastel pink robe, ending at his mid thigh, a client favorite, before placing the mirror and makeup back and reaching for a different pouch from his dresser. He heads out to the common bathroom, seeing Nollo already in there, one leg up on a chair, his long azure robes tied up at his waist to get him better reach between his legs.

“Hey Nollo, I’m almost out of my oil, can I use yours?”

“Yea sure, man,”

Sokka nods in thanks, reaching to the counter next to the busy man, and taking the oil over to his own corner, not needing to tie his robe up with how short it is. He makes quick work of the preparation, not bothering to make it enjoyable, he has no time for that, as the client is probably already waiting.

He slides open his door to find a man sitting seiza style, his back turned to the door. As Sokka walks in the man looks up, smiling awkwardly, “Oh, umm, hello,” the man says, his voice rough, one golden eye looking up at him.

“Good evening, master, sorry to make you wait,” Sokka answers politely with an inclination of his head, walking over to sit on the other side of the table. “Sake?”

“Oh, yes, please,” the man looks around the room nervously as Sokka fills up the cups, as soon as he’s done the man reaches for the cup and drinks it empty, placing it back on the table. Sokka chuckles quietly as he fills the cup up once more, and the man holds onto it as if it's a lifeline. 

“Is this your first time here?”

“Oh, uh yes. I didn’t really want to come, you know, I just got dragged into it by, uh, my coworkers,”

“That’s alright, no pressure, nothing is expected of you here. We can just sit here and talk, or sit in silence.” Sokka says as he takes a slow sip.

“Right, uh, thanks,” the man answers, as he scratches the back of his neck, which is covered by long dark hair, longer than Sokka’s own, and equally as silky. “Whats, uh, what’s your name?”

“You can call me anything you’d like, but my name is Sokka,”

“Sokka,” the man smiles, “that’s nice, that’s a nice name,”

“Thank you,” Sokka smiles, as the conversation comes to a natural lull. Customarily, Sokka would be the one filling their time with conversation and entertainment, but considering how much the man seemed like he didn’t want to be there, Sokka thought it might be better for him to be quiet.

“I’m Zuko!” the man bursts out, a hand coming up to his chest. Immediately after he sits back down, eyes wide in surprise at his own actions. Maybe Sokka was wrong about the man preferring the quiet.

“That’s a lovely name,”

“Thank you,” Zuko mumbles out, quickly reaching for his cup and swallowing the rest of its contents.

“I assume the sake is to your favor?”

“Hm? Oh, uh, sure, I guess. I’m not a big drinker…”

Sokka chuckles, “I see. You know we do have tea and other drinks available if you’d like,”

“Oh, no it’s fine,”

“Usually, sake is preferable, considering the actions that follow the drinking,” Sokka smiles as Zuko’s cheeks turn red, almost as red as Sokka’s and those are covered in makeup “but it’s alright, different men have different needs, am I right?”

“R-right,” Zuko answers as Sokka stands up, sliding open the door to gesture Nanami-san over.

“Could you bring us some tea?”, Nanami-san nods in response and Sokka closes the door again.

“So your coworkers brought you here?” Sokka questions.

Zuko nods, “Yes, I told them I was not interested in coming, but they were insistent, really insistent. They’re under the impression that I work too much and am in need of a break,”

“Well perhaps you do,”

“Perhaps I do, but I still wouldn’t have chosen to come here for my break,” Zuko responds, only belatedly realizing what his words imply, “Sorry,”

“It’s alright, I know what sort of things are said about places like these”

There is a light knock on the door and Sokka slides the door open to find a tray with a teapot, two teacups and a plate of biscuits. Sokka picks the tray up gracefully, bringing it over to the table and pouring the two of them some tea.

“Thank you,”

Sokka nods in response, “So, your work is very stressful,”

Zuko nods, “Unfortunately,” he says taking a sip, “But I wouldn’t change it for anything,”

“Is it fulfilling?”

“Very,”

“Well then that’s all that matters, isn’t it?”

Zuko smiles, “Yeah… And you? Oh, umm…”

“Is my work fulfilling?” Sokka asks with a smirk.

“Uh I-I guess,”

“Well it certainly fills one part of me,” Sokka adds jokingly as the man splutters.

“I-I didn’t, uhh, mean, uhh,”

“Ahaha, it’s fine, I know. It’s work, not much to say about it,” Sokka comments, “You’re cute when you’re flustered,”

“Oh, uh, thank you. You are also very gorgeous,”

“Thank you,”

“With the long toned legs, and your waist is so- and your face is-”

Sokka laughs, as the man trails off face red, holding his belly and swinging back and forth, “Ahh thank you, much appreciated,” he chuckles out.

Zuko sips on his tea, slumping down further in his seat.

“Sorry that was… inappropriate. I was just…”

“Bewitched by my beautiful appearance? Absolutely entranced? Awe-filled at a mere look?”

“No! Well, yes… You are very beautiful, I must admit, but…” Zuko scratches his neck again, “I-I don’t know how to do this. I talk to a lot of people at work, because I have to, but I usually know what to say… Or I get told what to say, it’s never been like this,”

“I already said, there’s no need for us to talk at all, silence can be just as satisfying,”

“That’d be a waste of time. I can spend a night in silence with myself,” Zuko says, and Sokka for the first time since he’s stepped into the room notices the dark circles underneath Zuko’s eyes.

“And your time is of high value, I assume? I must say you have me curious for what it is that you do…”

“Yeah, well...”

“Oh? Is it a secret?”

“Uhh, well…”

“Would you like to lay down?” Sokka asks, skirting off of that subject.

“L-lay? I already said I didn’t come here with that in mind…”

“It doesn’t need to be _that_ , just to rest, a break as you said you needed.” Sokka smiles softly, standing up and holding out a hand. Zuko hesitates, looking between the hand and Sokka’s face, before lightly placing his palm above Sokka’s hand. Sokka grasps onto it, pulling Zuko up and leading him around the table. He sits down at the top of the bed, pulling Zuko down beside him, patting his lap. Zuko looks between Sokka’s lap and his face, his eyebrow scrunching in confusion. This, like the many other looks Sokka had seen over the course of the night, was also absolutely adorable.

“Lay down,”

“On your? There are pillows,”

“I know. Indulge me,” he says.

Zuko huffs, laying down on his side, his head laid precariously on Sokka’s lap.

Sokka chuckles, leaning over to slip off the man’s slippers, tossing them to the side. As he leans back upright, he runs his hand along Zuko's side, making the man tense, before ending in his hair. Scratching his head, and playing with his hair, until Zuko begins to relax, leaning into Sokka. Sokka hums some song his mother used to sing for him and Katara, as the man below him slowly falls into a peaceful slumber.

* * *

“Sokka you’ve got a client coming later today,”

“Anyone I know?” Sokka asks with a turn of the page in his book.

“The young man who came in with all those councilmembers a couple weeks ago,”

“Ah,” Sokka looked up in surprise, he hadn’t thought that Zuko would come back what with how much he didn’t want to be there the first time. Their conversation was brief but enjoyable and he paid extra for doing basically nothing. “How nice, I’ll go get ready,”

Sokka gets up, closing the book, and making his way over to the closet. He throws the closet doors open with dramatic flair, perusing through his robes. Up until two weeks ago, he had only the four robes he wore over and over, they are of a high quality, Sokka wouldn’t go for mediocre quality robes, so they looked very well maintained and practically new, his clients have never complained. But still, Sokka would like some variety for himself, which is why he went out of his way to get a new robe after having more money left over than he thought at the end of last month.

It’s a gorgeous deep blue, matching his water tribe eyes, covered in small rhinestones, and gold embroidery moving into spirals and flowers, a little longer than his usual robes, trailing behind him when he walks.

Sokka goes about his usual routine, even preparing himself down there, despite Zuko’s refusal last time, just in case.

He had just finished setting the tea when the door slides open slowly, Sokka looks up, meeting that one golden eye, the other hidden behind a curtain of hair.

“Welcome back, Master,” he says with a smile.

“Yeah, uhh, I’m back,” Zuko answers, scratching his neck, before sitting down in front of Sokka.

“I noticed. And I’m surprised,” Sokka admits, “you didn’t seem too enthused to be here last time”

“Yeah, I,” he hums, taking a sip of the tea, “U-umm,”

“I didn’t hear of any big group coming in today so it doesn’t seem like your coworkers dragged you here again,”

“Yeah, well…”

“Then again, I suppose Councilman Nozun has been coming back quite frequently on his own, he might’ve been the one to bring you back,”

“Councilman? W-when, uhh, did-did you?” Zuko stutters around, Sokka finds himself enjoying watching him fluster.

“Your fellow coworkers were not as intent on keeping quiet about their lives as you were. And us courtesans? We talk.” Sokka says with a laugh, “So you work at the palace too?”

“Yes, I… I’m a scribe, I write everything down during the meetings, and, uh, yeah,”

“That’s interesting, your wrist must hurt a lot from all that writing,” Sokka says, leaning over to stroke Zuko’s wrist. Their skin colors contrast fiercely.

“Oh, did you, uhh, did you talk about me?”

Sokka chuckles, “wasn’t much to say. You fell asleep so soon.”

“Y-you offered! You told me to lay down! I was tired!”

“Ahahaha, I know, I know, I was just messing with you. I told you, we can do anything you want while you’re here,”

“Ah, about that, I-I came back because… I haven’t been sleeping well, and… I slept really well when I was here, even though it was only for a few short hours. I-it’s been a while since I slept that well,”

“Well why not just say so? Would you like to come to bed now?” Sokka asks silkily, leaning back to expose the mattress behind him as well as show a sliver of his chest.

Zuko hastily drinks the rest of his tea before standing heading around the table and meeting Sokka at the mattress. Sokka sits himself down at the head of the bed again, and Zuko lays down in his lap, taking his slippers off himself this time. Sokka strokes his hair like last time.

“Is that yours?” Zuko asks, picking up the book Sokka had forgotten to put away, “ _History of a Nation_?”

“Yeah, I’m not originally Fire Nation,” Zuko snorts, muttering out a ‘ _Never could have guessed’,_ “So I wanted to read some more about it,”

“This isn’t just a history book, this goes deep into the intricacies of politics and government in the fire nation

“Oh, you know it?”

“Oh! Uh, yea I read it to prepare for my job… as a scribe… at the palace… that I work at, why are you reading it? There must be simpler books to understand the fire nation,”

“Are you calling me dumb?”

“No! No, I mean, I just,” He stutters as Sokka smirks, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that. I-I just don’t understand why one would read something this heavy if they don’t have to. I would know, I did have to read this,” he huffs, “For, uhh, for my job as a scribe,”

“I know, you had said,”

“Right,”

“So uhh why are you reading this?”

“You know you won’t get to sleep any time soon if you keep starting up conversations,”

“Sorry…” he says, placing the book back down.

“It’s fine, I don’t mind, this is your time Zuko,”

“Hmm, I like that,” he says burrowing his head deeper into Sokka’s lap.

“Like what?” Sokka asks inquisitively.

“I like it when you say my name,” He answers. Sokka leans over a bit, seeing the blush high on his cheek, trailing down his neck, Sokka follows it with a finger.

“Sleep well, Zuko,”

* * *

Sokka stirs the honey into his tea as the man in front of him releases another frustrated sigh. Zuko had been acting distracted and irritated since he’d walked through the door, probably since before then, and Sokka had about had it with the stunted conversation and constant grunted responses.

“Zuko, you know you don’t have to be here. We’ll refund you for the night and you can go home,” Nanami-san definitely wouldn’t want to give out any refund but maybe he could convince her, it’d be unfair to make Zuko pay a night for what has only been a half hour.

“O-oh?” he asks looking Sokka in the eyes for the first time that night, “D-did you have other plans for tonight? Are you busy?” he asks.

“No, but I can clearly tell you’d rather not be here, don’t force yourself,”

“I-I’m not forcing myself!” He shoots up, quickly sitting back down with a bright red face, “S-sorry, I just… I like being here, I’m sorry that I wasn’t being very attentive…”

“It’s alright, your mind is clearly somewhere else,” Sokka responds trying to convey trustworthiness, when Zuko doesn’t respond he continues, “You know you can tell me what’s bothering you. Maybe talking about it will help,”

“I-it’s just troubles at work, nothing to worry about,”

Sokka reaches over to hold Zuko's hand in both of his, kneading the fingers and palm, “Clearly it is if you’re letting it follow you into your private life. What’s wrong? Is your hand hurting from writing so much? Is someone being mean to you?”

Zuko chuckles, “No, Sokka”

“Cuz if they are, I’ll show up to that palace and show them what happens if they’re mean to my Zuko,”

“Your Zuko?”

“Yes, my Zuko,” he says kissing his knuckles.

Zuko huffs, hiding his smile, the front of his robe slipping down allowing Sokka a peek at his pale chest. Sokka allows himself to stare until Zuko moves back up, meeting his eyes, “Come on,” Sokka says, pulling him over to the bed as was their routine. When Zuko moves to lay sideways though, Sokka stops him, encouraging him to lay on his back, his head elevated on Sokka’s lap.

Sokka’s hands move to the sides of Zuko’s head and his fingers start digging into the softer parts.

Zuko moans in response, “Oh that’s good,”. Sokka hums in response, continuing his ministrations across Zuko’s head for a few minutes. Running his hands from Zuko’s temple down to his jaw, massaging the joints there before going down further, sneaking his hands underneath Zuko’s robe and massaging his shoulders and chest from above. After a while he stops, caught up in staring at Zuko’s relaxed face, a sight he usually only sees once the man is asleep and half his face is burrowed into his lap. His robe is disheveled in a way that will lend itself to many of Sokka’s future fantasies. 

Zuko opens his eye, smiling softly up at Sokka, and Sokka smiles back, enjoying the moment. Their bubble of serenity bursts when Zuko’s face suddenly becomes serious again. “Sokka… Have you heard about Councilman Ito’s new immigration plan?”

Sokka looks at him confused at the sudden topic, “Yes, I’ve heard bits of it,” he admits.

“I-I just… what do you think about it?”

“Hmm, well I probably have a different view on it than most Fire Nation citizens considering I am an immigrant, but I think… If the regulations that Councilman Ito wants to set up, had been set up five years ago, I wouldn’t have been able to enter the country,”

Zuko humms looking up at him, his hand moves up to hold Sokka’s cheek gently, “And that would’ve been terrible,”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, cuz then I couldn’t have met you,” 

Sokka’s eyes widen, blushing at that sentence, “That’s so embarrassing to say,” he chuckles, Zuko matching him, and they laugh together quietly for a minute before calming down. “I... think it's unfair to judge someone and deny someone entry based on things they cannot control,” he finally says.

“I agree. But I don’t think the rest of the council does, or at least not most of them. The fire nation people are… wary of the other nations, after a hundred years of war and propaganda,”

Sokka snorts, “Well I think the other nations are pretty wary of the fire nation too, but they’ve still got relatively open borders,” 

“I know… but the people are worried about their jobs, and their culture being lost, and strangers…”

His finger runs along the contours of Zuko’s face, Zuko’s eye closes as he makes contact and Sokka lightly traces over the eye before moving onto the nose “There’s plenty of positives to Immigration too, you know,”

“Yeah?” Zuko huffs out.

“Yeah… Why is it bothering you this much anyway?”

“I-I just care! Why? Can’t I care about what’s going on?” Zuko asks in a panic. 

Sokka pulls back surprised, “Of course you can… I was just wondering…”

“I… I just want to figure out a way to make things better,”

“Zuko you’re a scribe, that isn’t your job, there’s nothing you can do if the Fire Lord decides to close the borders, so don’t worry so much about it,”

“R-right, I was just thinking, maybe if I had a really good solution I could present it to the council and, uh, yeah…”

“Oh, trying to climb up the social ladder?”

“Uh, well, yes. Yes I am.” he admits, finally sitting up from Sokka’s lap and turning to face him.

“Alright well then, let’s brainstorm,” Sokka decides, sitting down more comfortable for a long night of thinking.

“Alright, let’s start with those good parts of immigration you mentioned,”

Sokka chuckles, “Well...”

* * *

“...and then Aoi totally freaked out,” Sokka recounts, barely getting a word out through all the laughing, “And she starts screaming for Nanami-san, who rushes out, hands covered in lube, and starts yelling at us at the top of her lungs, so loud that even old man Jee hears it from the bottom of the hill. He was so worried he rushed up here to check on us,” Sokka finishes, giggling.

Zuko laughs along, raising the cup of sake, “You are all really close here, huh?”

“Yeah, living together, working together, it’s basically made us family,”

“C-can I ask, how did you start working here?” Zuko asks.

Sokka’s smile falls off, “Now, Zuko that’s really not an appropriate question…” he says, tipping the two cups off with more sake, “And it’s not a nice story. Only nice stories for such a nice night,” he says.

“I… right, of course, sorry, I didn’t mean to make things inappropriate,”

“You should be making things inappropriate,” Sokka says with a wink, “just not like that,”

“Right…” Zuko says and Sokka sees him hunching back into himself, staring down at his cup, and refusing to look anywhere in which Sokka might be in view. Zuko has been a regular customer of Sokka’s now for the past few months and Sokka has noticed this pattern of behavior. It doesn’t come up when Sokka flirts, no, otherwise Sokka would have stopped long ago, rather he doesn’t seem to know what to do when he is denied something or is in the wrong about something. Sokka had figured from the beginning that Zuko’s social skills weren’t the best, but in situations like these they just seem so much worse.

“Alright,” Sokka sighs, “I’ll tell you, settle in this’ll be a long story,”

“No, Sokka you don’t have to,”

“Relax, cutie, I wouldn’t tell if I didn’t want to but… in return I’d like to hear some more about you,”

Zuko blushes at the nickname, “I… okay, that’s fair,” he responds, nodding.

“So, picture this, me, at about 16 years old, a little shorter, a little skinnier, but still devastatingly handsome,” Zuko snorts, “I was living on the South Pole with my sister and grandma and the rest of our village. My dad, he was the chief, and him and all the men had to leave the village to go fight in the war. I… wasn’t allowed to come, I was too young,” Sokka says, and Zuko reaches over to hold his hand for once, “So, I stepped up in other ways. Whenever my dad and his men did come back I’d help them plan their moves. I was the best at that, I was the plan guy,” Sokka says with a reminiscent smile, “I’d spend months looking over maps, receiving news of how battles were going, to create the perfect plans. And let me tell you something, every single battle I planned, was a victory.” Sokka says proudly, “So then, avatar comes back, blah blah, he defeats Ozai, war ends, right? And I’m still stuck at home, doing nothing, and I get a letter from Bato, by dad’s second hand man, that my dad was injured and they’re going to be stuck in the Fire Nation for longer than they thought, so-”

“Sokka tell me you didn’t”

“I thought it might be a nice idea to go to them rather than wait for them to come to us,”

“Sokka!”

“What?! I was young, and it seemed like a good idea. I’d planned the whole trip out,”

“Agni, Sokka! Things were dangerous back then! So soon after the war,”

“I know that now! I learned it!” Sokka shouts. 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to yell at you…”

“It’s fine… Anyway, I came with my sister. Stupid decision, involving her. But anyway, we had a really tough time, halfway through we heard that Gram Gram passed away. And we’re feeling really conflicted and defeated, because it was supposed to be two weeks to the capital, but we were more than a month on our way, and still weren’t close. We just kept getting caught up with pirates, and bandits, and towns and people that needed help. And my sister always wanted to help these people so, whatever,” Sokka recounts rapidly, lifting his hands in the air, “we’re completely off path, my plans were ruined, and now Gram Gram’s dead. We’re not even still sure if dad is still at the capital because he didn’t know we were headed his way, and he couldn’t send us any messages cuz it’s not like we’d even know where to send them, we didn’t even know where we were!” Sokka pants, Zuko grips his hands tighter, willing him to focus on the present, calming him, “...And then things turn to a head one day. I get sick, really sick, and I mean Katara’s waterbending was pretty good for never having had a master but her healing needed a lot of work. So she had to go around and find a doctor for me…”

“...Except there weren’t a lot of doctors around because the Fire Lord called basically all of them to the capital and sent them overseas to help the other nations recover,” Zuko finishes for him.

“Right, so I eventually get better because this crazy woman stumbles across me, puts a frozen frog in my mouth, and I'm magically better,”

“Gross,” Zuko comments.

“You’re telling me,” Sokka jokes, “Anyway, when I wake up, Katara’s nowhere in sight. Our camp didn’t look like it had been visited by anyone in a while before the crazy lady, so I of course went looking for her. I followed her trail through all the nearby towns, until one town, where she had apparently not shown up at all,” Sokka’s voice shakes and Zuko moves over to sit beside him, still holding onto his hand, “I asked around town and apparently there’d been a group of bandits in the area that had been terrorizing the townspeople and any travelers that they came across. So, I thought Katara definitely got in trouble with them right? Whether they found her, or she went to them after hearing what they were doing to others… So, I hunted them down, chased them for two whole weeks, finally met up with them and I… got my ass beat.” He laughs, his eyes beginning to burn, and his nose running, “But I didn’t give up, that was my baby sister, and I was going to keep going after them until I found her. I… that’s what I had told myself. But I never won against them. To be fair there were a lot of them. And they were all really big and buff. And I was at this point 17 and still pretty scrawny.” 

“And still very handsome,” Zuko attempts to lighten up.

“And still very handsome,” Sokka agrees, wiping his runny nose on the sleeve of his robe, ignoring Zuko’s disgruntled look, “Anyways, at our, I think I’d say 12th, fight, these guys have at this point created enough trouble that troops were sent to arrest them, and they came in right as I was getting my ass handed to me, again. I didn’t get arrested, because of course I was the victim, and I tell the troops about my missing sister, and they tell me they’ll keep their eyes open and left with the only remaining clue I had about my sister,” He sighs, “there isn’t much to the rest of the story, I never heard another thing about my sister, I stuck around, but I didn’t have any money. I was doing bad, and then… I met Nanami-san, and she offered me a job. And at first refused, I wasn’t going to sell out my body. I guess I still looked down on sex workers then, not anymore of course,”

“Sex work is an honorable profession,” Zuko comments.

“That's right. Anyways, then I met this guy, and I fell in love, and he… manipulated me basically, anyways after I finally cut things off with him I ran back into Nanami-san, and I begged her for that job. So that’s that.” Sokka sighs, “Really long story, I know,”

“You’re a good story teller,” Zuko says, attempting to lift the mood.

Sokka wipes the last few trails of wetness from his eyes, “Thanks...I-I gotta imagine those bandits killed her… right?” Sokka asks looking up at Zuko, “I gotta think she died back then, because if she’s been around this whole time while I’ve been doing Tui-knows-what I’d-” he breaks off unable to finish, unable to explain all the emotions he feels.

“I-I’m sure wherever she is, she’s doing well, and she’d forgive you. You were just a kid then, there’s only so much you could’ve done,” Zuko pauses, “Can I hug you?”

Sokka chuckles, “Of course you can. You can do anything,”

“I know,” Zuko responds, pulling Sokka in by his collar, leaning his head on his shoulder and wrapping his arms around Sokka’s waist. Sokka hugs back lightly at first, then his hands fist around the material of Zuko’s robes, “But I don’t want to, not like this,” Zuko mumbles, pressing his face harder against Sokka’s shoulder.

“Hm?”

“Nothing,”

The stay held in each others arms longer than normal, Sokka pulling away slowly, “Alright,” he sighs, “now you go,”

“Umm, alright, what would you like to know?”

“Hmm… Why did you become a scribe?”

“Well, that’s uh…” Zuko tapers off, looking away and scratching his neck.

“Hm? What was it? Were you born into it? Was your dad a scribe? Or did you have a major crush on the new Fire Lord and want to shmooze up to him?” Sokka asks teasingly, “I heard after his coronation, there was an influx of young eligible women signing up to work at the palace,”

“Yeah, haha that did happen… Now, uhh, before I tell you, can I ask… what do you think of the new Fire Lord?”

Sokka chokes on his sake, “What?! Did you actually become a scribe for him?!” he bursts out laughing, mood significantly lifted.

“No! No! That’s not what I’m saying,”

“Oh, I get it. You wanna see what I _think_ of him,”

“Yes!”

“No need to worry cutie, I’m sure he’s got nothing on you,” Sokka says tucking a piece of hair back behind Zuko’s ear, the uncovered side.

“No, t-that’s not what I meant,”

“I’ve heard he’s nice,” Sokka says with a shrug, “The avatar is his friend apparently, so there’s that. I like what he’s been doing with changing the schools, and working to restore all the villages the fire nation has destroyed. I mean, bringing troops back after a war is over is just natural, all that other stuff? Getting rid of the propaganda, helping the other nations? That probably wasn’t necessary, Tui and La know there’s a lot of people who didn't want that, but it’s good he’s doing it,” Sokka shrugs, turning to face Zuko again, “What are you smiling for?”

“Nothing,” Zuko responds, shaking his head, still with a small smile on his lips, he grips Sokka’s hand, “Sokka?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you,” Zuko responds, leaning over to hug Sokka again, surprising him and pushing him over, making them end up in a pile on the floor.

“What’d you do that for you dummy” Sokka wheezes out between laughs, “And hey! You never answered my question!” he giggles.

“No reason,” 

Zuko's cold nose burrows deeper into Sokka’s neck, “Ah! Stop! You’re tickling me!” he giggles, dropping the topic.

* * *

Sokka lifts the fruit up to his eye, inspecting it closely, “These tangerines don’t look good,”

“They’re perfect, what are you talking about?!” The shopkeeper complains in her nasally voice.

“I don't know, Hama, I don’t want to spend my good money on subpar tangerines,”

“These tangerines are fine, you’ve bought these tangerines for years, what have you got to complain about now?”

“I’m just messing with you, Hama” Sokka says, picking up three tangerines and placing three coins into Hama’s outstretched hand.

“Well don't. Bad for business.”

“Sorry, Hama,” Sokka says, moving onto the next stall for his groceries.

“You’re in a good mood,” Haru says far too close to his ear.

“It’s that one customer, the regular,” Aoi answers.

“Hey I’ve got a lot of regulars,”

“You’ve got like two, Sokka. Three if Meekan’s mother gives him his allowance,” Aoi says as the rest of the group laughs, “I don’t know what that hot flame is doing to you in the bedroom but I’d like in on it! I’d love if my skin looked a young and rejuvenated as yours,”

“Oh, please, this doesn’t have anything to do with him,” Sokka says stroking his cheek.

“No, just with his money!” Aoi jokes, as the other ladies laugh.

Sokka chuckles as he walks over to another stand, picking up a yellow fruit as the shopkeeper comes up to him, clucking annoyingly. Sokka drops the fruit with a glare, moving along with the others to a different stall. Some people didn’t want to serve him, either because of his profession or because of his nationality, but that’s fine, they’re entitled to that. The hundred year war ended almost five years ago, and since then the nations and their leaders had worked hard to open up to each other, welcoming immigrants with open arms. But no matter what the government did, the people were harder to sway in their favor.

“I’m not sharing him,” he comments idly to Aoi.

“Of course you’re not, I wouldn’t either,” Sokka says, his muted red robe tickling his ankles. They didn’t typically get dressed up in their best clothes when visiting the town. Usually wearing clothing with more muted colors, which cover more skin. Though there are subtle differences that tell others about their profession. The tops that have a little bit of a deeper V-neck, or the men having more feminine faces and long hair laying loosely on their shoulders, or the women’s clothing, that despite covering everything, are still tighter than usual around their chests. Nanami-san provides them with this clothing, Sokka doesn’t entirely understand why she thinks they need this distinction, but he trusts that there probably is a reasonable justification. Besides, they could always buy regular clothing themselves. Though most of his brothers usually have some debt to pay off, and those that don’t and make the extra money, usually buy themselves luxuries such as books or fancy robes.

“Did you hear? The Fire Lord is going to be travelling through town today with some council members and troops!”

“We’re barely an hour from Caldera, they pass through here all the time,”

“Yeah but I’ve never been around while they’ve been here!” Haru whines.

“And you won’t be here this time either, Haru the townspeople won’t want people like us around while the Fire Lord is visiting,”

“We’re townspeople too! We only live half an hour out of town, that’s technically townspeople!”

“Technicalities don’t mean shit, don’t go causing trouble, if they don’t want us here when the Fire Lord comes then we won't be here. We’re lucky enough they haven’t tried to drive us away completely. Now, get the rest of the groceries and we’ll go home,” Aoi nags.

Haru huffs, moving a couple stalls down to pick up the rest of their supplies for the week, Sokka looks between the two for a moment, before moving to follow Haru, leaving Kayu, who had been quiet this entire time, with Aoi.

“So uhh, you said the Fire Lord is bringing an entourage?”

“Yeah,” Haru grumbles out, picking up some weird pickled vegetable.

“Did you, uhh, where did you hear that from?”

“These two guys were talking about it over at the Seafood markets, I just overheard them,”

“Did they say who else was going to come?”

“Nah, they didn’t specify… Do you think Councilman Kouhaku is going to be there though?” Haru asks looking up at him.

 _Ah, that's it_ Sokka thinks.

“Haru… has he even come back since that first time?”

“Well, not as often as your guy… But he’s come back once or twice…”

“Zuko doesn’t come by that often…”

“He’s at the home like every week,”

“T-that’s not much,” Sokka splutters, “S-so that’s what you’re making such a fuss over? For a guy you saw three times?”

“Well you know this could be the fourth,” Haru comments idly, playing around with a yellow curved fruit, _fresh from the Earth Kingdom_ , the seller had said.

“Haru,” Sokka begins reproachingly, before thinking better of it, “You know… I think you do deserve another opportunity to talk to your guy,”

“Yeah?” Haru asks excitedly, handing the coins to the seller.

“Yeah, you know I am hoping to see someone too,”

“So what are you thinking?”

“I’m glad you asked, brother,” Sokka says laying his arm around Haru’s shoulders, regaling him with what plans he had thought up.

  
  
  


The sun was just over the mountains when Sokka, Haru, and bizarrely enough, Kyo sneak back into town. Their hair braided back and pinned up to give the appearance of having a short hairstyle, the back of their heads covered with a hood, long enough to also cover their upper chests which were more revealed in their common clothes.

“You’re lucky that the Fire Lord had a late start too, or I’d kill you for your stupid plan,” Kyo complains.

“You don’t even have any reason for coming!” Sokka shouts.

“You don’t know me!” Kyo answers.

“Alright, guys let’s calm down,” Haru placates, “Let’s first figure out if our guys are even still here,”

“You do that, I’ve got other things to do,” Kyo comments before walking away.

“Hey! Kyo!”

“Relax man, I’ll be at the meeting spot at the right time to meet you and we’ll all go back together,” he answers before leaving.

Sokka grumbles as he and Haru walk deeper into the town, encountering more and more people on the way, as they happen onto the town square they find a large crowd gathered. The crowd seemed agitated, several people were shouting in all directions.

“What’s going on?” Sokks asks the man beside him.

“Lady Wu predicted a heavy storm to hit tonight,” the man says.

Sokka and Haru look at each other in alarm.

Just as Sokka is about to turn back to the man beside him to ask for any specifics, the uproar stops and the crowd moves, pushing Sokka and his group further away.

From the distance he sees a group of guards marching, straight through the crowd, behind them is another man, riding on what appears to be a komodo rhino though Sokka could barely see the top of its horn. “Do you think Zuko will be riding on a komodo rhino?” Sokka asks Haru.

“Tch, of course he will,” the man in front of him answers gruffly.

Sokka turns back towards the proceedings awkwardly.

“Look! There he is!” Haru shouts, “Kouhaku!!” He shouts even louder, flailing with his arms, trying to get the attention of the man on the rhino.

“Haru!” Sokka whisper-shouts, “Quiet down!” He looks frantically around, noting the annoyed looks of the people around them. If they caused a racket here, they’d be in big trouble. They could get kicked out of the home! Or if the townspeople were bothered enough, the whole home would have to move!

“Look! He noticed me!” Haru shouts, Sokka looks back over to the entourage, noticing a man on a Komodo rhino looking their way, giving them a two finger salute and a wink. “Oh my Agni,” Haru pitches out before collapsing.

“Oh!” Sokka rushes to hold him up underneath his arms, “Okay,” He slowly lowers him to the ground, “Okay, Haru, sit down, calm down,” He fans him a little with his hands as Haru slowly comes back to himself. The people around them slowly turn away, ignoring them. Probably for the best, Sokka thinks.

“Alright, how are you doing, better?”

“Hmmhm,” Haru answers back dreamily.

“Yeah sounds like you’re doing better,” Sokka remarks, standing back up, keeping Haru sitting up straight by having him lean on his legs, hoping to still catch a glimpse of Zuko.

Suddenly the murmuring of the crowd gets louder, and Sokka stands on his tiptoes to see who’s entered the square now.

Sokka sees a blinding golden crown, directing the light right towards him. Sokka holds up his hand to cover the glare, seeing a man with beautiful deep red robes covered in custom made armor and a cape riding a Komodo rhino. Sokka sees long black hair, half held up by the crown, seeming so painfully familiar, but Sokka couldn’t recognize where from.

“There he is-” the guy in front of him remarks.

The man turns towards him and finally Sokka could lower his hand, seeing two beautiful golden eyes, almost as bright as the crown, pale sculpted cheeks, a small smile gracing his lips as he waves towards the crowd, and as he turns further, Sokka sees the side that he had never seen before, the side that had in all their previous meeting been carefully hidden behind a curtain of pinned hair. The side that he now saw was a bright pink, the eye and ear smaller than proportionate.

“-Fire Lord Zuko,”

  
  
  


When Sokka comes back to himself he’s halfway out of town, coming to a harsh halt when he realizes he doesn’t want to go home. Because if he goes home then he’ll inevitably have to talk to people, and he doesn’t feel like doing that much right now. Sokka looks around him, in front of him is the long stone road leading up the hill to the brothel he’s worked at for the past five years. Behind him is a town that ostracizes him and a man that lied to him. He kicks at a pebble in frustration, making it bounce off the path onto the grassy field. 

“Ugh, what is going on,” Sokka whines, gripping his hair, “Okay, Sokka, deep breaths, deep breaths. So the guy you’ve been talking to and flirting with and falling in love with is the Fire Lord. No big deal. No biggie. No big dealio. No problem. What is wrong with me?!” Sokka shouts into the night, the sound echoes in the empty valley. Sokka is momentarily distracted from his anguish when he hears a small chirp following the silence of his shout. He looks towards where he’d kicked the pebble. Next to it stood a squirrel-rabbit, chirping aggressively at him for disturbing the nightlife. “Shut up, you stupid rat,” Sokka comments, “I’ve got big human worries going on! You’ve got no ide-OW!” The squirrel-rabbit had taken the pebble, and thrown it with astonishing accuracy at Sokka’s forehead, “Oh, that’s it!”

Sokka rushes after the animal, who escapes further into the field. “Get back here!” Sokka follows the squirrel past a sprinkling of trees, screeching to a halt before he could fall into the pond that was suddenly in front of him. Windmilling his arms around to stay on his feet. The moonlight reflected perfectly off of the lake’s surface, illuminating the surrounding trees, making the falling leaves look like stars. Sokka’s breath caught at the beauty of it, and he feels the rage inside of him die down. He hears another chirp behind him and looks to see the squirrel-rabbit halfway up a tree, obviously expecting Sokka to continue following him, “Ugh, forget it,” he sighs, sitting down in front of the lake. The animal moves down and skitter about a foot away from Sokka, looking at him questioningly. “I know it’s stupid. It’s the first thing they tell you when you begin working. Don’t fall for your clients. And I never have before, you know,” He says, looking back at the animal, “It’s not very hard to not fall for men visiting a brothel. Most of them aren’t very handsome, and if they are then they’re definitely not nice men. I’ve never had a client before that didn’t want sex. But I mean his story made sense, he was pressured into it, but then I just didn’t expect him to come back, and keep coming back. Without demanding anything.”

*Chirp*

“Yeah… You’re a surprisingly good listener for a rodent,”

*Chirp*

“Sorry…” Sokka sighs, “What do I do? Tell Nanami-san I won’t take him as a client anymore, and then keep avoiding him until I stop feeling like this, or probably forever,”

*Chirp*

“Yeah, well what else am I supposed to do? Tell him how I feel? And then what? He’s the freaking Fire Lord! And I’m a… prostitute. There’s no way he could even like me back…”

“You’re wrong,”

A rustling from a bush a couple feet away catches his attention, and Sokka looks over to see Zuko standing amidst the greenery, his pale skin shining in the moonlight, long hair pulled back in a low pony, no crown, brandishing his scar in a way Sokka’s never seen before. In his hands was a.... Turtleduck?

“You’re wrong. I do like you,”

“What are you doing here?”

“This guy got lost,” Zuko responds, lifting up the turtleduck. He shuffles over to the lake, gently placing the turtleduck on the surface of the lake, watching as the duckling swims over to a small groove on the far side of the lake. Sokka can just barely see the mama turtleduck pulling her baby into the cave with her. “We… ended up making camp in town due to the upcoming storm… Sokka, look,” Zuko says, moving closer to where Sokka was sitting, “I-I’m sorry for lying to you. At the beginning, it was just, you know, I didn’t know you. A-and, you know, I couldn’t really let word get out that the Fire Lord was visiting a brothel, it wouldn’t be very good for my reputation. But I needed to go in order to get Councilman Nozun to agree to my new military plans. S-so…” He sighs, not knowing how to continue.

Sokka also stays silent, playing with the grass in front of him, “I understand that… I understand… but then why didn't you tell me later. We’ve met up so many times since that first time.”

“I know, Sokka, I-”

“I told you everything about me, told you everything about my childhood, my work, my other clients, I told you about Katara!”

“I know Sokka,”

“And you know what?” Sokka asks standing up, finally turning to face Zuko looking him in the eye, “It would’ve been fine. It would’ve been fine if the Fire Lord just wanted some weird companionship with some prostitute in the middle of nowhere, and lied about it. I would’ve been fine with that. But then don’t keep lying when I’ve already figured out the truth!”

“I-I’m not,”

“Really? So it’s really true that you like me?”

“I-”

“Because if you liked me you would’ve told me earlier! You wouldn't have let me make such a fool out of myself! You wouldn't have let me fall for you so hard, just to then be dropped;” Sokka says finally out of energy.

“Sokka, I won’t drop you. I promise. I-I don't know when I started feeling like this… I would say I didn’t realize it fully until you said it, but… I knew earlier that I felt a strange attachment to you. I would think about you every day until I finally got to see you again, and then when I did, I wished our time would never end, and I could just stay with you, listen to you, your voice, your stories. Hold you, I don’t know if you know but I made up all sorts of excuses to get to hug you. I loved it when you’d run your hands through my hair, and I don’t like people touching me, but I never hated it when it was you. S-so...”

“So? So what, Zuko? So you’re just going to keep visiting once a week for the rest of your life?”

“W-well I-”

“What are you going to do once you have a wife? And kids? You’re just going to keep coming? And when I get too old for the brothel? What then, Zuko?”

“W-Well I’ve got to admit, I haven’t thought about it too much, you know, considering I only now realized my feelings. B-but I mean how is it different from when I was a scribe?”

“Zuko you know it's different. You know, or you would have never lied to begin with. The Fire Lord has responsibilities, a reputation. He needs a fire lady and he needs heirs, and he can’t just take in some male hooker, what would the people say? What would the leaders of the other nations say? Or the council?”

“Sokka, I don't know. I don't know what to do about that,” He says, stepping closer, “B-but I'm sure we can figure it out. I wouldn’t be the first gay Fire Lord,”

“Wait what?”

“Yeah, long story,” Zuko sighs, “C-can we just focus on this, without thinking about everything else?” Zuko asks, holding onto Sokka’s hand, “I know it’s a lot to ask Sokka, but can you trust me? Let me deal with everything later. I will, I’ll find a way to make things right. J-just please give me this now,” 

Sokka clenches his eyes shut. He knows that it's very likely there isn’t a solution and he’ll end up being dropped, alone again. How did Sokka keep getting into these situations? Falling in love with men, telling them everything, entrusting them with his deepest secrets, only to then get his heart broken at the end of the day. He should know better by now. He should say no, give this a clean cut, for both their sakes. He opens his eyes, wanting to say just that, but Zuko is looking at him with so much affection in his eyes, _both his eyes,_ so much love and trust and desperation. All Zuko had asked was for Sokka to trust him, nothing more, he hadn’t asked for anything more. So… maybe Sokka could do this, could give himself over to Zuko, trust him. And if he gets dropped he’ll just have to pick up the pieces once again. But right now Sokka wants to kiss the beautiful man in front of him, and it has been such a long while since he’s gotten what he wanted.

He nods, and Zuko’s hand moves from Sokka’s hand up to his face, Sokka leans in closer and closes his eyes, Zuko closes the rest of their distance. It’s just a simple touching of lips, that somehow feels more intense than all the encounters Sokka has had over the years.

“So,” Sokka says when they finally separate, “Since you know everything about me, I think now you owe me some of your life stories,”

“Umm alright, I’ve also got a younger sister. We’re not close. I’m not really close with most of my family, except for my uncle,” Zuko sighs, “He basically raised me, and I have so much to thank him for. Me and my dad, he...” Zuko pauses, lifting a hand up to the left side of his face, “Used to hurt me. A lot…” He clears his throat, “I like drinking tea, my favorite’s chamomile,” He scratches his neck in what Sokka now knows to be a nervous tick, “I like animals. I'm a lot better with animals than with people. We also have a turtleduck pond in the palace. It’s my favorite place. Though only second to the place in your arms,”

“That's so cheesy!” Sokka laughs.

“What? I thought that’s what you’re supposed to say when you like someone,”

“Maybe in some medieval romance story. No one actually talks like that,”

“Uhh yeah, I, this is embarrassing I haven’t told anyone this, but I love theater, and umm, sometimes I say things that I hear in the plays,”

“No way, really?” Sokka continues laughing, tears in his eyes.

“It seemed very romantic when they said it,”

“You’re such a dork!” 

“I know, I know, I’m a dork...who’s hopelessly in love with you,”

“Again?” Sokka asks, giggling.

“Always,” Zuko responds before leaning in for another kiss.

  
  
  


The rain had come just as they separated from their second kiss, lasting much longer than the first. Sokka squeaks as the couple droplets soon turn into a great downpour. He pulls up his hood as Zuko grabs his hand, “Come on!” he yells, dragging Sokka with him. They run through the woods in the rain, their feet sliding along the wet grass, the air tasting fresher. Sokka giggles, the situation seeming just ridiculous enough, Zuko looks back at the sound and smiles, his eyes softening.

Zuko takes him to his campsite, masterfully dodging any guards and sneaking into his tent.

“This seems like it’s not the first time you’ve snuck someone in,”

Zuko laughs, “Never snuck someone in other than myself after a night out with you,” he responds, kissing him. Their clothes are absolutely drenched, quickly creating a puddle underneath their feet, that both men don’t notice as they lose themselves in each other. Sokka takes a step closer, his footstep creating a splash, finally making both men aware of their surroundings.

“Oh no,” Zuko laments, quickly reaching for a nearby blanket to cover the wet mass on the floor with, “Ah, w-we should change. You know, so we don’t catch a cold,”

“Zuko, if you wanted me out of my robes you just had to say so,” Sokka flirts, taking off his top, Zuko blushes furiously in response, rushing off to find some dry clothes for them both. He comes back with a long dark red robe, of thicker material than the usual robes worn in the warm climate of the fire nation. Zuko looks away as Sokka takes off the rest of his clothes and holds open the robe for him. Sokka slides into it, tying it with a matching belt around his waist to stay up.

Zuko rushes off to get changed himself in a similar looking robe, the front of which is a little more open than Sokka’s. When he turns around, Sokka’s amused eyes slide from his face down the delicious path of his chest, to the beginnings of a scar that he had never seen before.

He approaches Zuko slowly, still looking only at the scar, his hand slowly coming up as if wanting to touch it, but stopping himself just before, “Are you okay?” he asks.

Zuko lifts Sokka’s head to look into his eyes, “I’m fine,” he reassures him.

Sokka smiles, his hand moving into Zuko’s hair instead, “Your hair is still wet,” he comments. Unlike himself, Zuko didn’t have a hood to hide his head under in the rain. Zuko reaches for a towel to dry his hair, but Sokka takes it out of his hand, grabbing his hand and leading him to sit on the floor, in a not wet spot, as Sokka towels his hair dry. “Do you have a comb?”

“Inside that chest,”

Sokka comes back over, slowly combing out any tangles, then braiding two of the front strands, keeping them pinned with hair clips he took out of his own hair. Sokka takes out a small mirror from the same chest, presenting it to Zuko.

Zuko looks at his hair curiously, touching the braids likely, “Are these…?”

“They’re in the southern water tribe style, though traditionally there’d be beads and such woven into the braid,”

“Thank you, I really like them,”

“And I really like seeing them on you,” Sokka says, kissing Zuko on his scarred cheek. Zuko looks into Sokka’s eyes expressionless, long enough that Sokka becomes concerned, had he done something wrong? Had Zuko changed his mind about him after all?

“Sokka…” Here it comes, he’s going to ask Sokka to leave, tell him he doesn’t like him after all, “Does… does it not bother you?”

“Does what not bother me?” Sokka asks nervously.

“The scar… doesn’t it bother you?”

“Huh?”

“I know it’s unpleasant to look at, a-and even worse to touch. And, you know I’d like you no matter what, s-so you don't have to pretend or anything,”

“Zuko I’m not pretending. Your scar doesn’t bother me. In fact, I kinda like seeing your whole face rather than having half of you hidden,” Sokka responds caressing that side of his face, “If you think that scar makes you any less attractive than you are disillusioned about how handsome you truly are. In fact I think it adds to your charm, makes you seem all mysterious and dangerous, very hot if you ask me,”

Zuko snorts, “Though surely not enough to best your beauty,”

“Obviously not!” Sokka laughs at the cheesy line. They sit on the floor, chuckling at each other’s antics before Zuko states that they should head to bed due to the time.

They settle into Zuko’s large bed together, about triple the size of Sokka’s, despite clearly being a travel sized version. Sokka leans his head on Zuko’s chest, listening to the rhythmic lull of his heartbeat. Zuko takes out all of the remaining pins in Sokka’s hair, laying them to the side before nuzzling into him. They fall asleep quickly, entangled with each other in a way they’d never been able to be before.

* * *

"Welcome back, Master," 

"Thank you, Sokka," Fire Lord Zuko responds.

“It’s been a while since, you’ve been here, I almost thought you’d forgotten about me,”

“I would never,”

After that night, Sokka had woken up when Zuko began stirring, as the storm ended with the sunrise. Their clothes from the night before were still drenched, so Zuko leant him some of his simpler robes, and he carried his own clothes in a bag with him as they snuck out of the camp and back home. While he was able to return to his rooms undetected, he couldn't escape everyone else forever. Nanami-san gave him a strong tongue-lashing about his disappearance, and Kyo and Haru had also quite a lot to say for abandoning them. Nanami-san ended up making him take on more chores for the next three weeks in order to make up for the lying and sneaking out.

Zuko returned three days later for another session, and had continued to return every week as per usual, neither of them brought up the topic of the future during these meetings. Zuko asked Sokka to trust him, and even if he didn’t Sokka would still continue this knowing it would blow up in his face one day. He loved the man too much to not spend every available moment he has with him.

Sokka had thought it was all over when Zuko didn’t show up two weeks in a row, it wasn’t the first time he hadn't been able to visit, but he always told him beforehand that he wouldn’t be able to come due to some meeting or another. He had already begun grieving, rejecting all other customers, spending the nights in his room alone, burrowed in Zuko's clothes that he had held onto from that night, with a bottle of sake and Zuko's favorite book, a sappy romance novel of course.

“I’m sorry, I was busy,”

“That’s alright, I barely even noticed your absence,”

Zuko chuckles, “Is that so?”, he forgoes sitting by the table and instead moves directly over to Sokka, “Sokka, can I ask you something?”

“You’ve kinda got me scared, but alright. Shoot.”

“Will you move in with me?”

Sokka chokes on the tea he was drinking, “Huh?!”

“Oh, you’ve got a little…” Zuko points at Sokka’s chin, “Don't worry, I got it,” He lifts his hand wiping the small dribble of tea away from his chin with the corner of his sleeve.

“H-how? What?!”

“It’s on a trial basis. I’ve talked to my councilmembers, they were of course fine with me having a concubine-”

“Concubine?!”

“-but I told them you meant more than that. I told them I wouldn’t ever take a wife and I’d let my lineage die with me. Also, that I would oppose them on pretty much every single future proposal of theirs, and if they didn’t like that they’d just have to deal with it in an Agni Kai,”

“Zuko, that’s-”

“Now, we’re not officially engaged or anything, I’m afraid I’ll have to schmooze up a few more people before we’re anything near that. And you’d have to take these royalty classes, I had to take them as a kid, you know so that you learn about the country and about ruling. And we’ll have to find some way to endear you to the public but-”

“Zuko, is this for real?”

“Y-yes, why? D-do you not want to anymore? Cuz I can-”

Sokka throws his arms around Zuko , holding him tight, “yes I’ll move in with you!”

Zuko hugs him back, “Oh, that’s great. Cuz, uh, I might already have a room arranged for you. And I told my uncle about you and he’s really looking forward to meeting you,”

“D-does this mean that I’ll be the Fire Lady?”

“Well we can probably come up with a different name,”

“That’s… a lot… I mean I know I grew up as the son of the chief but this is still different,”

“O-oh well like I said, you wouldn’t be pushed into any duties. You’ll learn about them slowly, and you’ll have help, assistants and stuff, a-and you’ll have me. Trust me it won’t be that hard,” Zuko splutters.

“So… this is basically you asking to marry me…”

“W-well I…” Zuko veers off, looking away, “I told you, that I’d figure out a way for us to be together, a-and this is the most feasible way. A-and I know this is coming with no forewarning, and you have time to think about it! You don’t need to decide right now. But I… I’m going to put all cards out on the table, no more lying. I’d like to be with you forever, Sokka. And you can say no, or you can say no later and I’ll figure out a way to get you out. S-so it’s not a marriage proposal, but if you say yes that will definitely be in the future. A-and I promise it won’t be overwhelming or too much, because I’ll be right beside you. And I love you, a-and-” The rest of Zuko’s words come out garbled as his lips are suddenly obstructed by Sokka’s.

“I love you too, you dork,” he grins.

**Author's Note:**

> Two things:  
> 1\. Aang saved Katara from those bandits, and when they went back to get Sokka he had already recovered and left the camp. They do end up reuniting once Sokka lives at the palace, because obv Aang and Zuko are friends.  
> 2\. I don't remember what I wanted to write for #2 but once I do i'll fix this.
> 
> Also this took me a while to write, and by the time I was finished with it I was so tired of reading it, that I barely looked over it before posting so if you see any errors anywhere please tell me.  
> Also please tell me if you enjoyed reading it, I am craving validation.  
> Also feel free to ask me questions, I know there's a lot of things I didn't go into full detail on or left unexplained, and that's mainly bc I didn't feel like it was necessary for Sokka's story, but I'm still willing to talk about it.


End file.
